


Epsilon 5R49N44-005A12-218403030015

by iori_sempai



Category: BlazBlue
Genre: Gen, Human Experimentation, Pre-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-21
Updated: 2014-02-21
Packaged: 2018-01-13 07:55:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,055
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1218451
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iori_sempai/pseuds/iori_sempai
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A young test subject finds a family, a life, and a name.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Epsilon 5R49N44-005A12-218403030015

**Author's Note:**

> Very overdue entry into my 30_kisses collection, prompt #5: "ano sa" ("hey, you know....").

"5R49." The tall man with black hair calls his number, which is his cue to step forward into the showers for his daily wash. His full number is much, much longer-- so long that no one bothers to say it all unless they were in the middle of testing. He's had at least one-hundred showers and sixty trips to the white room, but he still can't remember the whole thing. 5R49N44005A12... and then the numbers get confusing after that, when the drugs start to set in, too many digits spoken so quickly that 5R49 loses his place every time. As soon as he finishes the three-minute shower, the spray shuts off and he's ushered into the next room.

"5R63," the man calls, and 5R49's heart drops into his stomach. He whips his head around to make sure he's heard his voice correctly; before the door automatically shuts behind him, he can spy four deep scars on the next boy's left leg, characteristic of 5R63. Normally 5R61 came after him, but... it's possible he's still testing, or in a medical procedure like the one that left the scars on 63.

It isn't until another two days pass without him around that 5R49 finally asks one of the passing workers, the woman with dark red hair who was always frowning. "What happened to 5R61?"

Her frown only gets deeper as she looks at his face (but never into his eyes, none of the adults do that). "Test failure," she says, and continues on to her work without another word.

"Oh," is all 5R49 can say. He sits in the corner of his room and looks through the bars at the empty space where 5R61 used to be.

5R31 is the next to disappear ("Test failure."), then 3E21 who'd been around since even before he'd arrived ("Test failure."), until finally 5R63 and his red scars are the only remaining company he has in the block.

5R63 doesn't speak. He can't. He had come to this block without a voice, the same way 5R61 had been missing one of his arms. They were the only two that looked like him with numbers higher than 49 that he'd ever seen. "There's been too much genetic degradation," he'd heard one of the adults say with a sigh the very first day 5R63 was wheeled into his room. "We've done as much as we can with the Epsilon line."

After another test in the white room (he finally hears the next numbers, 5R49N44005A1221...), he comes back to an empty block. 5R63 was probably with another researcher, he tells himself, but the anxiety of being alone starts to eat at him.

"Is 5R63... coming back?" he asks the woman the next morning.

"No," she says simply.

He's the only one left? 5R49 feels the strangest sensation in his eyes at this harrowing thought, they start to burn, the same way they do during his least favorite tests. It's the first time that he finds himself crying from anything else other than pain.

5R49 wipes away the tears as best he can, and when he looks back at the red-haired woman, there's an expression of shock and horror instead her usual frown. At first, he's worried that she'll think he's broken, but her face softens just slightly.

"We're consolidating subjects over the next few days. You'll be moving to A-block with a few others." Others? So it wasn't just him. He fills so much relief at her words that he doesn't know what to say at first, and she's gone before he can even attempt to express his gratitude.

Three days go by so very slowly when the other seven rooms around him are completely empty, but the prospect of the move is enough to keep his spirits up.

He's moved to A-block, to the room on the right, three doors down. When he arrives, the block is already half full. There's one boy who looks somewhat like him, but older and darker (just how 3E21 used to look), and two girls with heads full of silver-white hair, whispering to each other through the bars.

Later in the day, 5R49 gets his first neighbor. A small girl with short blonde hair like his, he thinks at first. Then he catches the glint of metal around the wrist, denoting that the child was in fact, male. It was a boy, unlike any of the ones he'd met before. His features were so small and delicate, and his form was slight even for his young age. 5R49 finds himself moving to that side of his room to get a better look through the bars.

"What?" the boy asks once he notices 5R49's gaze. His voice is small and frail, too, just like him. "Well?"

5R49 finally closes his mouth and thinks of something to say on the fly, "...Hello." The boy seems unprepared for such a standard greeting, but only continues to look at him warily. "Um... They call me 5R49," he says, not sure what else he should offer at the moment. He had never been so friendly in the other block, but he finds himself a little anxious to speak to someone else again.

"6F11N56005A12218602141305."

5R49 only stares blankly at the long string of numbers the little blonde gives him. After a long moment, he explains, "That's my number."

5R49 can only gape at him quietly, "You remember all of that?"

6F11 seems uncomfortable, but nods eventually. "...Yeah. Is that strange?"

"No, it's good! I've been here for a long time and I can only remember 5R49N44005A12218... something," 5R49 admits with a little embarrassment.

"Really?"

"Yeah, it's amazing."

And then just like that, 6F11's mouth curls at the edges and he's making such a brilliant little smile. Immediately, 5R49's struck with another strange feeling-- a painful one, right in his chest. "You look nice when you smile," he says very quietly.

6F11 immediately looks downward into his hands, "...Thank you."

He looks nice when he flushes, too.

"Zeta." It's the pale man with glasses this time. 5R49 dislikes him the most. His tests were in the black room. He looks around for who reacts to the name, and surprisingly, it's 6F11.

"Good luck," he tells him, and watches him disappear into the hallway. It's a few hours before he's wheeled back into his room, and laid onto his bed.

Returning from the black room was always like that. He likes it even less than the white room. Even during the most painful, drugged-up tests, he was at least conscious for most of it. In the black room, you were deeply sedated and experimented on while you were asleep. He hates the idea of not knowing what they were doing to him. How many "test failures" had happened in that room?

Before he can dwell on it too deeply, his number is called. It's his turn.

When he finally comes to on his cot, 6F11 is staring at him. "Are you okay?" he asks through the bars.

5R49 stretches his stiff limbs and sits up, leaning against the one solid wall of his room. "Yeah, I'm fine." After stretching a bit more, he looks at the boy curiously. "Why did that guy call you Zeta?"

6F11 stiffens suddenly at the question and frowns. "Because I'm the only one."

"Huh?"

"There were other ones like you, right? Whose numbers started with 5R?" Yes, he remembers at least eight others, all close enough in his appearance to be a twin. "They only tried once to make ones like me. I was the only one who woke up, so... I guess they decided to move on to the next line." 6F11 seemed almost sad about it, like he thought 5R49 was lucky for having his doppelgangers. His room was across from the two girls, 4L21 and 22, who seemed to spend most of their time coddling each other as much as they could while being separated. It's no wonder he'd be longing for such a close relationship.

"There's no one else like me now," 5R49 says. The other boy seems regretful about bringing it up, but he's not too bothered about it. "But we don't have to look like each other to be close." He sticks his hand through the bars, and the boy stares at it for a long time before cautiously taking it. 5R49 squeezes his hand lightly and 6F11's cheeks start to turn pink again, filling him once more with a strangely protective urge. When he saw the boy like this, 5R49 didn't want anything bad to happen to him.

"Hey," he says, "can I call you Zeta, too?" It seemed wrong to refer to him by his number like the others, not when he was so special. 5R49 hadn't seen a boy who looked like him before, and sometimes he couldn't keep his eyes away. Zeta was still a label, but it sounded more like a name than the random stream of numbers he'd been given. The small blonde frowns at him. "Do you not like it?"

He shakes his head. "It's fine, but... what about you?"

"I'm too used to my number to go by anything else," he says with a shrug. Zeta seems unsatisfied with that answer, but doesn't question him further.

It's a long time before he lets go of 5R49's hand.

It's strange, but with someone to look after, 5R49's mental state ends up being uplifted. He wonders if this is what it's like to have a purpose in life-- a real one, not as a lab rat or a tool. While he's able to withstand the most painful tests these days without a single tear, his heart feels torn when he thinks about Zeta going through the same treatment.

It's horrible when he comes back from the white room to see the small boy trembling in the corner of his room after a too-long testing session. The instant 5R49 extends his hands through the bars, Zeta comes to him, interlocking their fingers.

"Why does it hurt so much?" he asks, desperate. "What do they want?"

5R49 remembers when he had those thoughts. He feels a little ashamed when he remembers how long ago he'd decided they were completely futile.

"...I don't know."

"Do you think we'll ever get out of here?"

No. But 5R49 can't bear to say that to him. Instead he fills his voice with as much hope as he possibly can, "Of course, we will. They can't keep us here forever."

Zeta doesn't seem relieved at all, but he fakes a smile for him anyway. "Yeah. You're right."

It's unspoken in the air between them, but surely in both of their minds: The adults couldn't keep them here forever, sure, but they could get rid of them just as easily.

That becomes even more clear a few weeks later, when 5R49 wakes to the sound of quiet sobs echoing through the block. At first, he looks over to Zeta in worry, but he's lying asleep in his cot, and the noise is coming from somewhere else. It's 4L21, her hands pressed to her mouth as she tries to stifle herself.

Zeta looks even sadder when he learns the news. 4L22 was gone. Fear grips 5R49's heart relentlessly, and when it's time for Zeta to go for testing, he doesn't want to let go of him.

4L21 follows her twin just as quickly. 5R49 tries so hard to get her to speak again, but after four days of utter silence, an empty room is all that's left of her. "Subject failure," Zeta whispers, then looks up at him, his eyes wet with tears. "I don't want to die."

Not for the first time, 5R49 wishes these bars weren't in the way, that he could pull the small boy into his arms and let him feel safe for just a moment. But he can't, so he touches lightly at his cheek, and uses his words instead. "You won't die. I've been here a lot longer than you, and I'm still here."

"That doesn't mean anything!" Zeta says harshly, but there's a small sob caught in his throat that 5R49 can't bear to hear. He pulls Zeta by his shoulders close to the bars, and presses himself forward against them. Their lips touch just barely, but it's enough to shock the tears from Zeta's eyes.

"Just believe me a little longer, okay? I... I know we'll get out of here somehow..." He didn't know that. He didn't even think it was possible, but he still dared to dream about it. He couldn't stop.

"...I believe you." Zeta leans forward to return the feather-soft kiss, his cheeks flushed pink.

A few days later, another set of girls comes into the block. They seem similar to the 4L girls, only blonde and paler, younger, with thinner frames. Actually, the more he looks at them, the closer they look to Zeta, with the same complexion and cheek bones, just female and even smaller.

The girl with the small scar over her throat is across hallway, while the other is in the very next room. 5R49 finds himself interested in his new neighbor, drawn by the same protective impulse he felt around Zeta. Even though he can't offer her much, he could at least give her a little bit of company (or maybe it was the other way around, and it was he who desperately needed more conversation, more interaction to keep going).

"Hi," she says when he makes his way over to her side. Her voice sounds stronger than Zeta's did at first, and only now that he's standing next to her does he notice how young she looks. Even smaller than Zeta was when they met. "I'm 5R49."

"Seven." He blinks. "I don't like being called by so many numbers," she says with a little scowl. "It's 7M15... but I like Seven a lot better. It's easier to remember, too."

Seven talks very fast and quietly. Where Zeta seemed to close down in his stress, Seven opened up and spilled out most of her inner thoughts, describing the worst parts of her testing sessions when 5R49 offers to listen. Zeta is surprised to see the new addition when he finally awakens from the aftermath of the black room, but given their distance apart, can only watch her from afar.

"I think you two would like each other," he tells him earnestly, but Zeta's expression is apprehensive.

A few days later, Seven is strangely anxious about something. "Hey, R." She had taken to calling him such, rather than what he'd introduced himself as. He finds it surprisingly easy to get used to, and having a nickname makes him feel more like a real person instead of a thing.

"Can you hold hands with me, too?" she asks, and 5R49 feels terrible for not offering before. He takes her hand through the bars, and finds himself smiling back at her when she starts to beam. "You feel really warm."

"5R49."

The white room today. He reluctantly pulls his hand away, and follows the man to the lab.

Seven is gone when he gets back. And not just her, but the other 7M girl, too.

"They got them both at the same time," Zeta tells him once he asks about it, and he seems slightly irritated by something. "I don't know what for."

"Are you okay?" 5R49 asks quietly.

"I'm fine." Zeta says, "Just tired." Then, he excuses himself to a nap and lays on his bed, turning to face the wall.

5R49 starts to get worried once it's been a whole day, still too hopeful to ask the passing adults about the fate of the 7M girls. He's almost about to give up and consider her gone when the door slides open, and Seven is being wheeled in, unconscious.

The other girl is nowhere to be found. 5R49 mourns her quietly, that he was never able to get to know her (but is inwardly thankful that it had been her to go, instead of Seven).

Her bed is in the back corner, against the bars that join their rooms, close enough for 5R49 to reach through and touch her face. Her skin is still warm, and he can see her chest moving up and down as she breathes normally. He lets out a quiet sigh of relief, and combs her hair with his fingers. What did they do to her so long...?

Over the next month, the amount of times they call for him and Zeta decrease. He can overhear the adults talking excitedly about something, how she's the closest yet and how they'll need to investigate further, that the next lines should be based on her with only minor variations.

Seven, on the other hand, is called to the white room almost every day. 5R49 is torn between relief and anger. It's a good thing that Zeta doesn't have to go through as many tests as he used to, but for Seven to be going more often in their place... He couldn't be happy with that arrangement.

When Seven comes back from the experiments, she's always covered in needle pricks and bruises. "They want my blood for something. They say I have something that the rest don't." She looks thoroughly unhappy with this, and 5R49 shares in her uneasiness. "I'm scared," she says one night before bed. 5R49 holds her hand until she falls asleep.

Zeta seems just as nervous about the change. He's staring wordlessly at the doors when 5R49 wakes up in the morning. Seven is gone.

"They picked her again..." he says. 5R49 moves to that side of his room, but Zeta doesn't move in the slightest.

Ever since Seven came, Zeta acted more reserved than ever. "What's wrong?"

Zeta only shakes his head, wringing his hands in his lap. After a long, long while, he calls out to 5R49 softly, "Hey... Are we not useful anymore?"

The amount of fear in his trembling voice is hard to hear. Of course Zeta would begin to think that way with them being ignored by the adults in Seven's favor. "Well... at least we don't have to go through as many of those horrible tests." 5R49 tries to sound pleased about it, but Zeta's expression doesn't budge an inch.

"But... that means we'll be disposed of, doesn't it?"

"Don't say that!" Of course the thought had entered his mind, but he doesn't need Zeta to dwell on it, too. "We'll get out of here."

It's not surprising that Zeta's faith is fading fast, but he presses his lips together anyway and nods.

"I... I won't let you die," 5R49 says as strongly as he can, "I promise! So... don't say stuff like that."

That's enough to make Zeta's sullen expression crack; he crawls over to the bars and grips them in his fingers. "I don't want you to die, either." 5R49 puts his hand over Zeta's, frowning when he feels just how cold they are.

"We'll be fine, all of us." Even as he says that, 3E15 is gone, too, and he, Zeta, and Seven are the only ones left in this block. Still... they'd all get out. Somehow.

5R49 hates the silence when he's there, and Seven and Zeta are gone or sleeping. Zeta had taken a trip to the black room today, so he'd be out for at least another few hours. And Seven had been carted off just afterward. At least 5R49 feels a little at ease when he watches Zeta sleep. Sometimes he even smiles. 5R49 wonders if he ever remembers what happens into those cheerful dreams.

But 5R49 isn't able to ponder that for long-- an extremely loud and bone-shaking sound makes him jump to his feet instantly. His heart is pounding in fear as he wonders what could have happened. It sounded like an explosion. His stomach twists itself into knots-- did something go wrong in the lab? But, that's where Seven was. He hoped that she wasn't hurt.

Suddenly the door opens and the researchers are running past, down the hall, and 5R49 can see smoke billowing in. "What happened?!" he screams, but no matter how many times he asks, none of the adults pay him any mind.

The auburn-haired woman is the last one out and the only one who even acknowledges him. "Where are you going?! Let us out!" She falters in her step, and for a moment, 5R49 is deathly afraid that she won't do it, but then she smashes her fist into one of the panels by the door, and his door, Zeta's and all the rest are opening.

He doesn't even have the time to thank her before she disappears, which is fine enough. 5R49 has more things to worry about than that-- Zeta was still completely unconscious, and he needed to make sure Seven was alright. He quickly ducks into the adjacent room and pulls Zeta onto his back, then heads off toward the source of the fire, desperate to find Seven.

"Seven! Seven, where are you!?" he yells as loudly as he can, but he can't see anything with all the smoke in the air.

"There ya are," says an unfamiliar voice, and a small shadow approaches him. The stranger's odd appearance doesn't even register to him at first, all he can see is the small blonde girl in his arms. Seven. 5R49 feels tears of relief coming to his eyes, but he holds them back for now. They weren't free yet.

"Who are you?" he asks, but the real question is what. The creature standing before him isn't human at all, but a beastkin, in the shape of a large cat standing on his hind legs.

"I'm just here to help," the cat says. "I'll need yer help, too, of course." He eyes Zeta on his back and says, "Why don't we trade? We gotta get out of here quick."

5R49 doesn't have much of a reason to question the beastkin at this point. Even if he was going to take them somewhere else, it was better than staying here, so he nods, lifting up Seven instead as the cat hoists Zeta onto his back. Seven was even lighter than she looked. 5R49 presses her tiny body tightly to his chest, and follows the cat out of the building as closely as he can.

It feels like they walk for hours through the woods, and just when he thinks his legs are about to give out, the stranger stops and says, "I bet we've lost 'em. We oughta take a break while we can."

"Name's Jubei," he says, once they set up camp. "What about you, kid?"

5R49 stares at the small fire. "...I don't have a name. All I have is my number."

"Lemme see," Jubei says, and pulls the wrist bearing his identification bracelet toward him to take a closer look. After a quick glance, and a long thoughtful pause, the stranger says, "How 'bout Ragna?"

"Huh?"

"What? Don't like it?"

He shakes his head. "No, it's..." He honestly feels a little shocked. "I never thought I'd have a name before."

"These ones don't have names either, huh?" Jubei asks, looking at the sleeping children. Ragna shakes his head, "Look like twins," he muses quietly. Then he raises his gaze to Ragna. "Why don't you name them?"

"Me?!"

"You're their older brother, right? It's yer duty," Jubei says, nodding to himself. Panicking slightly, Ragna looks around the forest, racking his brains for anything that could give him an idea. Eventually, his eyes land on the sword by Jubei's feet.

He stares at Zeta and Seven's faces for a long time, before he says, "Jin... and Saya." The more he says it to himself, the more fitting it sounds. Real names, much better than the impersonal nicknames they'd had in the lab.

Jubei bursts out laughing in reply, the source of Ragna's inspiration instantly obvious to him. Ragna can't help the indignant flush spreading across his face. "Do you have something better?"

"No, it's fine!" Jubei manages between chuckles, "They're proper names." Once his laughter subsides, he says, seriously, "I reckon they'll be happy when they wake up."

Ragna reaches out to squeeze his siblings' hands, Jin's and Saya's, and whispers, "I think so, too."


End file.
